Monday, September 24, 2018

Modern Fox


I finally finished the modern fox I was carving in wood.  Or maybe I just stopped working on it!  Actually, the biggest time spent working on it was sanding.  This style sort of demanded that the finish be smooth instead of letting the carving marks show.

I put a 'barely there' finish on it that I often use for wooden frames.  This consists of half odorless thinner, half linseed oil and a dab of oil paint in the color I wanted.  In this case, it was a tiny amount of burnt sienna with the tiniest dab of bright red.  I wanted this mixture to just tint the wood instead of it being an opaque, totally covering finish.  With this finish, the wood grain shows through which I thought suited this carving.

Wood carving is good for a change of pace that helps charge the artistic atoms!  It uses a different part of the brain and it's sometimes a struggle to switch from 2-D thinking to 3-D but I think this 3-D 'practice' helps me paint better 2-D images.

I may not ever be a great wood carver but I enjoy it; it's a great stress reliever in a different way from painting and helps keep me off the streets!  lol

4 comments:

juliefordoliver.blogspot.com said...

I really love the smooth and abstract lines of this. The ideal type of carving for me.

Jan said...

Thanks, Julie
When I went to carving group on Tuesday, many thought I should carve some eyes. Most of the time when I think something is finished, I hate to have to go back to it.

I'm amazed that you painted that beautiful Snowflake Dove 7 times! But it was totally worth it as it's a beautiful painting!

Sue Clinker said...

Love the simplicity of your fox and I just love anything made from real wood. Our house is furnished with old oak pieces - just love the woodgrain.

What type of wood have you used for this carving?

Jan said...

Thanks, Sue, I think this fox is from butternut. Don't know if you have that tree variety there in the UK but it has a lovely grain and isn't too difficult to carve.